Some things in life aren't real easy to find. Others are quite simple. If you want to find all the locations for Chase Bank or PNC Bank, that's easy. There are lists, locator tools, it's just not too hard to find bank branches.
On the other hand let's say you want to find a location or list of all the Native American lending companies that are in business as of today. How do you do this this? What resource can you turn to where you can see all of these companies at once? The answer is you can't, there is no definitive list of tribal lending companies. Now I should mention that there is one list that was put together at this site, and this list is most likely the best (most comprehensive) list of tribal lenders that you'll find anywhere on the net, or off the internet for that matter. A library really can't help, and your state financial office can't help you because these companies are not licensed with the state.
That's the background that I wanted to provide when I admit that some Native American lenders have completely slipped past my exhaustive hunt to find as many tribally organized loan companies as possible.
Which company was not found? It's a tribal lender by the name of Rolling Plains Cash. How could this company have made it past all the time spent tracking down these lenders? Well, frankly it's not that hard to miss these companies. There is no centralized organization for these firms.
Even their own national association, NAFSA, doesn't have a comprehensive list or membership, plus they don't distribute or publish any of their member information anyway.
Whether you agree that it's a good thing or not, you have to admit that most of the structuring and organization of Native American lending largely flies under the radar. No one is talking about these companies, at least in terms of their organization, ownership or how they come about when they first get started. Plus, no one talks about their funding sources or how much money they make in profits. There is no such thing as a tribal lender that is a publicly traded company.
That's my little disclaimer as to why I will never have the absolute list of all tribal loan companies, and why I believe that no website will ever be able to produce a definitive list. And don't forget that new tribes are always getting involved with the lending game, plus other companies are going out of business so it's a very fluid environment as far as ever assembling a true list of firms.
Let's get back to Rolling Plains Cash and do a quick review to see if this company was something that was truly a missed opportunity, or if they were just a technical miss off the list.
The answer is they are simply alright. The company isn't great but they have a few redeeming qualities that helps them not be on the total waste of time list.
The good parts of Rolling Plains Cash? They only require that an applicant have $1,000 in gross income per month which is quite low. Another good thing is that they are an installment lender (rather than the more wretched payday type) so a borrower will have more time to repay the loan and have more flexibility when arranging the start of the loan.
Continuing in that theme, Rolling Plains Cash will structure your loan into 10 repayment dates, and it's interesting because the interest due on the loan is put together in a very similar fashion as a traditional home mortgage would be, where the early repayments are made up of almost entirely interest payments with a little big of principal being repaid. And the last repayments (in this instance repayments 8, 9, and 10) are composed mostly of the principal in the loan. I'm counting this as a good thing when it's not all that great, but it does give the borrower the opportunity to knock out a lot of the interest in the loan if they repay even 25% over the minimum required repayments early on in the loan cycle.
One more good thing about this tribal lender is that they have excellent website security with good encryption software. The site has a double verification system in operation so the concept that you could lose important personal data by applying here is so small it's nonexistent.
Now for the not so good aspects of Rolling Plains Cash. The interest rate they charge is not as low as Mobiloans or Plain Green Loans, so right away it's hard to recommend them for potential borrowers because they will be spending extra money on the same dollar value loan.
Another negative part of this lender is their loan amounts. The range that Rolling Plains Cash is willing to provide starts at $100 as a minimum and goes to $1,000 which is their maximum, and that includes those who are returning customers in good standing.
That's a big let down because that compares badly to the $1,500 Mobiloans is willing to lend, and the $3K loans that can be found at Great Plains Lending, Plain Green Loans and Superior Funding. And it gets worse because for anyone who is a first time customer with Rolling Plains Cash they will be limited to a maximum of $600 for a loan.
This lending program is not as strong as several other Native American lenders and it begs the question as to why anyone would want to not use a company like Mobiloans as opposed to Rolling Plains.
In summary Rolling Plains Cash isn't the type of tribal lender that really catches your eye. Mobiloans did that with their 10% cost when you borrow at least $500, and Plain Green Loans did that with their 59% APR for a six month loan.
RadiantCash, a tribal payday lender, caught my eye when they debuted their interest rate reduction program for borrowers who keep coming back to borrow with the firm, where there is a systemic decline in the cost of each following loan until the loan rate drops all the way down to 1.5% for a loan of up to $1,000. That's creative and that's not bad at all.
While Rolling Plains Cash isn't a company I would look to as a first tier company at the same time I'm not crossing them off the list of usable tribal lenders the same way I did with United Cash Loans and many of the tribal payday loan shops.
Instead, this firm will be a "maybe" tribal lender for me. If I couldn't borrow from Mobiloans because of a bad debt with them, or if I already had an outstanding loan with Plain Green Loans and couldn't borrow from them until that debt was repaid, then I would look to a company like Rolling Plains Cash to help out in a pinch. The cost isn't extraordinary and the 10 repayment structure of the debt is helpful. I would say don't ignore this lender but at the same time make sure to look around at the better options before you sign the loan documents.
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